Believing For Pleasing

Now this is His commandment: that we believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He gave us the commandment. – 1 John 3:23 (NET)

Prior to writing this, the author alerts his readers, with the words of the twenty-second verse, that the commandments that are spoken of here in the twenty-third verse are “pleasing to Him” (3:22b). Is there a context that will enable us to better understand the weight of what it is that is being passed along here? Of course there is, and it is a context that is created by the use of the words “righteous” and “righteousness” in the lead-up to these statements about the commandments and what is pleasing to God.

The use of “righteous” and “righteousness” would naturally invoke thoughts of covenant, covenant requirements, and covenant faithfulness in the minds of his readers. Attending those various thoughts concerning covenant would be consideration of the works of the law. “Works of the law” was a first century term used to denote those things that served as markers to demonstrate inclusion in God’s covenant people (Israel). They were circumcision, and Sabbath-keeping, along with food and purity laws. Adhering to these things, or the works of the law, identified an individual as being in positive covenant standing. This demonstrated that one was righteous. If one was considered to be righteous, then that person was justified before God, experiencing God’s covenant faithfulness, or His righteousness. This was well understood in that day. The works of the law, most assuredly, were not attempts to earn entrance into heaven after death by valiant efforts at keeping the law. Performing the works of the law, again, was a covenant marker that, interestingly enough, demonstrated a trust in God and in His power to perform according to His promises, in a firm reliance on His covenant faithfulness.

So when the author writes that “this is His commandment” (3:23a), He is speaking to people that well understand what is meant by commandment and that which pleases God. This is especially so among Jewish believers, as we bear in mind that Christianity (to use a general referent) was a Resurrection and creation restoration movement that had its roots in Judaism, that looked to the Jewish Messiah as its founder and resurrected Leader, was informed and undergirded by the history and prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures, and which was understood to be the movement of God in fulfillment of His promise to bless all nations through His covenant people. Because of these things, we do well to remember that the Jewish understanding of righteousness, covenant, commandment, and Resurrection would be fundamental in forming the theology of the new movement that was now centered on Jesus. So even if the author is writing to a mixed group of Jews and Gentiles, or to a group predominantly composed of Gentiles, Jewish understanding of the primary concepts would always have to be front and center in order to make any sense of the message.

With that covered, we can infer that, with talk of commandments, reference is being made to covenant markers. Reference is being made to that which denotes a person as being in positive covenant standing, and therefore part of the kingdom of God that was inaugurated in the Resurrection of Jesus, and therefore righteous (justified) and pleasing to God. This was always an important and controversial issue within the very early church. There was a group of believers that firmly believed that the works of the law---the established covenant markers---needed to be kept in place to identify believers as people under the covenant. Likewise, there was a group of believers, of which the Apostle Paul is the loudest voice, that said that the only thing that was necessary was a confessed belief in the Gospel of Jesus, and that this alone, which sprung from a gifted faith, signaled a believer’s membership in the kingdom of God, making them righteous (justified), pleasing to God, and partakers in God’s promised blessings for His people.

Our author seems to be very much in agreement with this second position, as even though he takes the liberty of redundantly adding “and love one another” (which would be the natural outworking of a believing union with Christ that would make one a vehicle for God’s blessings), it is quite clear that he is of the opinion that believing in Jesus as the crucified and resurrected Son of God (King of Israel/Messiah), is that which brought one into the covenant, sealing a person into the kingdom of God. Belief in Jesus and His Gospel (crucifixion, Resurrection, rule) was paramount. All else was secondary, flowing from the faith and power housed within that message.